Viewers Saw 3.5 Gambling Marketing Messages Every Minute During Stanley Cup Finals, Study Says

^{While the Florida Panthers and Edmonton Oilers battled for the Stanley Cup, fans watching at the stadium and at home were bombarded with gambling ads. (Photo: Lynne Sladky / AP Photo)}

A new study out of the University of Bristol in England found that television coverage of the 2025 Stanley Cup Finals featured an advertisement or logo for a sports betting firm approximately 3.5 times per minute far more than in the NBA Finals.

The study analyzed marketing messages seen during television broadcasts of the six games of the Stanley Cup Finals between the Florida Panthers and the Edmonton Oilers.

Study Points Out ‘Near-Constant Brand Exposure’ for Gambling Firms

It also looked at the 2025 NBA Finals between the Indiana Pacers and Oklahoma City Thunder, which went the full seven games. In those games, only 0.26 gambling references were seen each minute. The authors of the study suggested that the lower prevalence might be due to the NBA’s use of platforms such as YouTube that restrict gambling advertising. 

However, the study notes that both leagues found invasive ways of getting gambling messages in front of as many eyeballs as possible.

“Across both leagues, gambling brands made heavy use of in-stadium integrations such as static and electronic signage, jersey logos, and on-court/on-rink visuals,” the abstract of the study reads. “This aligns with previous research showing that sports sponsorship enables near-constant brand exposure.”

The study also noted that only 3.9 percent of all messages included “harm-reduction content,” with just 3.7 percent featuring age warnings.

The constant barrage of marketing is especially dangerous for you and vulnerable groups and opens the doors for a new generation of potential gamblers to engage with this known, addictive product,” Representative Paul Tonko (D-New York) told the Guardian. 

A similar study in the UK in 2023 found that viewers of televised Premier League matches saw as many as 3,500 betting logos per match. The Premier League has voluntarily moved to ban gambling sponsors from appearing on the front of player shirts beginning with the 2026-27 season. That will be a dramatic change, as 11 teams currently in the topflight of English football have such sponsors on their shirts.

Researchers Call for Federal Regulation of Betting Ads

The researchers behind the more recent study on American sporting events recommend that lawmakers pass federal legislation to place limits on gambling marketing during sporting events. 

That didn’t go over well with the American Gaming Association, which has shared its own research showing that only 0.4 percent of all television advertising in the United States is for sports betting firms.

“If UK professors are interested in the roust AGA members community commitments to responsible advertising, they’re welcome to engage with us directly in lieu of their now annual and predictable leaks to UK-based media outlets,” AGA spokesperson Joe Maloney said, via the Guardian.

But the researchers are only the latest group to suggest that federal oversight of the sports betting industry may be necessary. 

Rep. Tonko introduced the Supporting Affordability and Fairness with Every Bet Act (SAFE Bet Act) in September 2024 alongside Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Connecticut) and reintroduced the bill in March 2025. The legislation would require states to apply for approval of their sports betting regulatory systems with the Department of Justice and would ban gambling advertisements on television between 8 am and 10 pm, as well as during live sporting events.